Geain door fob box caks



J. A. sc'HMl'Tz GRAIN DOOR FOR BOX CARS Filed March 26, 1927 Patented Aug. 7, 1928.

JOSEPH A. SCHMITZ, OF CHICAGQILLINOIS.

GRAIN DOOR FOR BOX CARS.

Application filed March 26, 1927. Serial No. 178,521.

When box cars are employed for the transtofore prevailing is to board up the doorways by means of rough boards or planks placed on edge horizontally, one on top of the. other, with their respective ends nailed to the inside of the jambs or posts of the doorway. Ordinarily in order to secure the desired strength, the boards are reinforced by a secondthickness nailed to. them on the inside. Usually when the car reaches its destination, in order to unload it, the lower boards are staved in with some heavy implement and sufiiciently broken up to be removed to permit the grain to fiow out er the doorway. As the grain door so formed must be discarded at the end of the trip, the lowest grade of lumber which will serve the purpose is employed, and such lumber varies considerably in strength and sub jected to high pressure from the grain inside the car. The boards are apt to bulge unevenly, and leave cracks or openingsthrough which some of the grain escapes and is lost. Furthermore, the boards constituting the door or dam, being supported by the grain against the blows of the imple- 1 Jill ment em loyed to stave them in preparatory to unloa ing the grain, this preliminary operation is apt to require considerable time and effort, especiall if the boards used. are of sufiicient strengti to properly retain the grain during. transportation. This method of closing the car doors, therefore, is waste ful, both of time and material.

By my invention disclosed in the following specification and accompanying draw ing, I am enabled to save time both in closing and opening the doorways of freight cars employed for grain transportation an d also to economize in material used.v For this purpose I employ doors or panels of suflicient strength which are arranged across the doorway to be closed, one above the other and nailed to the inside of the door posts or jambs and employ a vertical brace bar hinged to the floor of the car about midway of the door opening and attached at its upper end to a cross bar or strut of proper strength which is interposed between ad'acent doors or panels, means being provided by which the brace bar may be readily secured to and detached from the cross bar so that the grain door may be readily and quickly placed in position when the car is to be loaded, and when the car is to be un' loaded, the grain door may be readily removed. p

In the drawings accompanying and fornn ing a part oil". this specification, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of so much of a boxcar, oi ordinary construction, as is necessary to show the door opening, with my grain door applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 on a somewhat enlarged scale; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal. section on the plane of the line of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale.

In the drawing the floor of the car is indicated at 4, the top at 5 and the jams or side posts of the door openings at 6. The panels, or members 7, forming the grain door, are preferably of double thickness of planking, as shown in Fig. 2, and of such length that when placed horizontally a *ross the door opening, they overlap the jambs,

to which they may benailed as usual. The panels are shown as 3 in number and between the top most panel and that next below is inserted a cross bar or strut 8 arranged with its greater transverse dimension perpendicular to the jam against which it rests. It is not necessary that this bar be nailed or otherwise secured to the jambs. The cross bar is formed of two thicknesses or strips or wood, which may be or about the thickness of the boards constituting the panels 7 of the door, and the members of the cross bar may be nailed together. A

wire loop 9, adapted. to embrace the upper end of thevertical brace 10, hereinafter described, is secured tothe cross bar 8. Preferably, and as shown in the drawing the side members or legs 11, 11, of the loop extend between the strips of thecross bar, and the ends of these legs are bent respectively in opposite directions, as shown at 12, 12, Fig. 2 in dotted lines, so that one of the bent up ends, enters a hole provided for the purpose in the upper member of the cross bar and the other end penetrates a similar hole provided in the lower member of the cross bar. When the members of the cross bar are assembled together with the loop be tween them and the ends of the loop extending into the holes in the respective members thereof, the loop is firmly held against distending into the holes provided for the purpose and the members of the bar are then nailed together. The rectangular body of the loop extends beyond the edge or vertical outside :lace ol the cross bar a sullicient distance to receive and closely embrace the upper end of the vertical brace 10. Brace 10 is a strip or bar of wood o'l' suitable dimensions to provide the required strength and when in position on the grain door is secured at its lower end. at the iloor ol the car by means oi? a metal strap 18, one end of which is nailed to the floor as at 14; and the other end ot which is bent up and nailed to the front or outside lace ol' the brace bar at 15. It is convenient to form the end 15 ot the strap with a longitudinal crimp to form a. pocket for the insertion of a suitable shaped tool to pry that end of the strap loose from the bar 10.

The preterable method oi asseinb grain door in the door opening oi is as follows:

The bottom panel is 'irst placed in position and one end only of it nailed to the post against which it bears. The upright brace may then be placed in position outside the said panel in the center of the doorway with the metal strap, one end. of which has previously been nailed to the brace, extending inward along the floor of the car. By raising the "tree end ot the panel slightly, the metal st 'ap may be thrust tl'icreunder and then the strap is nailed to the car door. The end oi the bottom panel which has hcrcto'liore been left tree is new nailed to its post. 'lhe second panel is then placed on ling the one car top oi the first and the ends nailed to the respective door posts.

Next the horizontal bar, equipped with the wire loop, as heretofore described, is

placed on top of the second panel, the loop being adjusted over the end of the vertical bracefbei ore the bar lowered to position on top of the second panel. The next or top most panel is then put in position and nailed to the respective door pests. ll desired or needed additional panels may be put in place above the third panel. Pret erably calking paper is applied between the panels in order to prevent any slight lealv age and it may be also applied between the ends of the panels and the door posts and between the bottom panel and the floor of the car.

In order to remove this door from the door way when the car reaches its destination a suitable bar, or other tool, is inserted in the pocket between the upper end of the intense strap and the vertical end of the brace and the strap pried loose fromthe brace; The panels may then be removed in order from top to bottom, the transverse bar being lifted oil after the third panel has been removed. The vertical brace, of course, may be re moved at any time after the strap has been pried loose from the lower end thereof.

The panels and brace, being but little inj ured in their application to and removal from the car and also the horizontal brace with its attached loop, may be saved for reuse. Ordinarily all the parts of the grain door are lit for re-use except the strap by which the lower end of the vertical brace is attached to the l'loor of the car.

I claim:

1. A grain door for box cars comprising a series of boards extending horizontally across the door opening, a brace bar removably secured at its lower end to the floor ot the ear and extending upwardly and overlapping said boards, a horizontal cross bar intermediate the edges of adjacent boards, and means 'detachably connecting the bra :e bar to the cross bar.

2. in a grain door for box cars, a series of boards extending horizontally across the door opening, a brace bar reinovably secured at its lower end to the floor of the car eX- tending upwardly and overlapping said boards, a horizontal cross bar intermediate the edges of adjacent boards, and a wire loop secured to the cross bar and embracing the upper end of the brace bar.

8. In a grain door for box cars, a series of boards extending horizontally across the door opening, a brace bar removably secured at its lower end to the floor of the car extending upwardly and. overlapping said boards, a horizontal cross bar intermediate the edges of adjacent boards, said cross bar comprising an upper and a lower member, a wire loop intermediate the upper and lower members of the cross bar, secured thereto and projecting beyond the edge of the cross bar and embracing the brace bar.

i, In a grain door for box cars. a series of boards extending horizontally across the door opening", a brace bar, a strap connech ing the lower end of the brace bar to the floor oi the car andextending upwardly and overlapping said boards, a horizontal my name. I

JOSEPH A. SCHMITZ. 

